Contrast

As I've continued my attempts to understand the Chinese language and culture, it's somewhat difficult to tell exactly how much I've gleaned without actually being immersed in it - that will happen soon enough.

Yesterday I took a trip across the Bay to San Francisco.  It got me wondering why I haven't spent more time in the city, considering it's been just 15 minutes away from my house for the last 21 years.  It always strikes me that there is so much going on all the time there that I imagine you could never have truly "seen it all."

As much as I would like to say I wasn't, I was a complete tourist the entire time there.  We hit up most of the major tourist spots, Pier 39, the Warf, Lombard Street, Haight and Ashbury, and even Twin Peaks to "top it off."  At each of these places I had my new camera glued to my right hand and was itching to try the thing out at every excuse I could see. I posted the pics here.  When I went to Cambodia I intentionally didn't bring a camera, because I knew I would spend more time worrying about getting a picture at each spot more than I would at actually soaking it all in.  Hopefully in China I will find a balance.

I didn't intentionally entitle this entry as "Contrast" for puns-sake, but the word got me thinking.  First, there is the obvious meaning through talking about photography, lame I know.  The meaning that I originally thought was around the contrast of society.    Going to a big city like San Fran now makes me think about Phenom Phen, Cambodia, their capital city.  To name just one characteristic; from above the streets looked to be alive with all of the moto drivers swerving in and out of opposing traffic.  It is an dense city, with a population of over 2 million people.  Being in a setting like this for a couple weeks and then looking at an equivalent from my own country brings up many differences, but many similarities as well.  I'll let you use your imagination, or wikipedia, or emailing me to figure out what those would be.

Dense traffic in Phenom Phen - Had to steal this from Wikipedia ;)

The last contrast would be in the light and darkness on a spiritual level within cities like these.  In both San Francisco and Phenom Phen, I have seen more darkness than I would like to acknowledge exists, but I have also seen an incredible amount of light and hope from people that wish to expel the depression and darkness.  A shout out to a few - City Crossroads in SF and Agape International Missions in PP.  People like these make the difference in people's lives and give hope to people that live without it in these concrete jungles.

I will been looking with open eyes at the Contrast between here and there in every sense of the term while I'm in China in the coming months.

Almost There

I don't usually like blogs.

But I wrote a blog for my school, which you can read here, if you are so inclined.  I enjoyed it at times, but sometimes it could feel like a chore.  I just don't really like talking about myself (something that you might find hard to believe), even though I have gotten decently good at it over the years.  I just can't help but feel very self centered when I write about myself.  However, I suspect that thought is normal for most people.

Alas, here I am, writing a blog focused on my upcoming trip to the People's Republic of China!  Of course, I am very much looking forward to it.  It is a study abroad trip through the program Best Semester and will be primarily in Xiamen, China, a decent sized city right across the coast of Taiwan.  I'll be just one of 20-something-thousand students at Xiamen University, a big change from good ol' William Jessup University's 900 something students.  Truthfully, I will be hard for me to be away from the people that I've grown so close to over the past couple years, whether that be my friends or the youth that I work with, they are all a very big part of me.  Although, the possibilities that come along with what I'm about to experience I believe are worth a four month hiatus.

I'm really diggin' on the idea of meeting some new faces too! When I heard that the group that I'm going with has only about 15 of us in it, I was kinda surprised, but then I grew to really like the idea.  I really cannot wait to meet all of them and become close friends, which is inevitable in my opinion!  Hopefully I'm not too overbearing, but we'll see.

My goal is to make this blog a good representation of what my experience is like in China.  When I was in Cambodia two summers ago, I wrote some ridiculously long updates to my family and friends about what I had seen, done and the ministries I was working with.  It started to kinda wear out my wrists a bit haha!  Hopefully I can make this blog enlightening, entertaining, and another word that starts with "en" and ends with "ning"... I'll find it.